Forget Gossip Girl, if you need a toxic new series on your watch list, then this dark college drama may be for you. Tell Me Lies, the series which first launched on Hulu in 2022, has dropped on BBC iPlayer, and fans are completely obsessed. The show is based on the Carola Lovering novel, and follows the turbulent, on-again, off-again relationship between college freshmen Lucy Albright and Stephen DeMarco over the course of eight years. The series stars American actors Grace Van Patten as Lucy Albright and Jackson White as Stephen DeMarco – the two meet each other at the fictional New York school, Baird College. The BBC described the series on its website: "The one you’ll never forget. Toxic love, ruthless ambition and shocking betrayal. A passionate college relationship will have consequences they never could have imagined."
And truer words have never been spoken as fans on social media are simply addicted to the gritty programme. "How bad is it that I absolutely cannot wait for these toxic people to return to my screen??" one fan said of the show. Meanwhile, a second penned: "MOOD. ready for my fav toxic show lol #TellMeLies." A third added: "IM ADDICTED PLEASE MORE 30 EPISODES." If you're new to the drama series, we have good news for you because you have two whole seasons to catch up on with a third season being confirmed back in 2024. However, the release date of the latest series isn't set to be until 2026, and given that the UK is already getting the series months after they launch, it may be a while until us Brits get the latest instalment.
On-screen and off-screen chemistry
The leads of the show, Grace and Jackson, have unequivocal chemistry on screen, but took that spark to the next level when they started dating, although they kept the true nature of their relationship under wraps for a long time, despite hinting there was more going on. Eventually, in October 2022, Jackson quipped he had a "huge crush" on Grace while, on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast. The following month, the couple shared a photo of themselves kissing in a string of photbooth snaps, covering the moment they locked lips with an emoji. But it wasn't long before they revealed their relationship to the world, making their red carpet debut the following month at the 2022 CFDA Awards in New York.
Talking about how their relationship started, Jackson's mother, Katey Sagal, told Rachel Bilson on her Broad Ideas podcast the couple had been dating for two years since they first met at the audition. "My son is on a television show, and his girlfriend is the lead [too]. They play love interests, and [they are dating in real life]. They have been for two years," she shared, adding that they had been dating "since the audition." She added: "They had such great chemistry."